Essential Technologies for a Smart City – Part 2

Smart cities in India are no more a thing of the future; they are being built all across the nation as you read this. The fact holds true not just for our country but worldwide. Projected to be a $400 billion market by 2020 covering 600 cities worldwide, these cities are expected to generate 60% of the world’s GDP by 2025. So what are the technologies behind the ‘smart city’? Let’s take a look.

Smart Infrastructure: A smart infrastructure ensures a city can move forward with other technologies. It also means that the data collected to is used to make meaningful changes in future city plans. With a smart city’s ability to analyze large amounts of data, cities will be able to plan better and it will allow for better planning and pro-active maintenance for future demand.

Smart Mobility: The technology and the data which travels across the technology collectively defines mobility here. If we are to realize the promise of smart cities, it is essential to have the ability to seamlessly move in and out of many different municipal and private systems. Data also needs to be unconstrained as it moves between systems and the technology needs to be interoperable and perform to expectations regardless of who made it or when it was made.

Smart IoT Devices: An IoT device is one of the key components that tie everything together in a smart city. Information will increasingly be obtained either directly from purposefully deployed sensors or indirectly or from sensors deployed for another purpose but which gather and share useful information in a smart city. Complex city systems can be managed in real-time and, and with sufficient integration they can be used to minimize unintended consequences if this information is freely exchanged.

These technologies work together to build a smart city. The need for smarter cities will increase to make the best use of available resources as more and more people move to urban areas and world population grows.